A lot of people are concerned that a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination may promote unsafe sexual activity.

A new study from Harvard University and University of Southern California researchers found girls who received the vaccine didn't have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases when compared to non-vaccinated girls.

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Nearly one-quarter of the U.S. female population between the ages of 14 and 19 and 45 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 24 are affected by HPV. The HPV vaccination can prevent cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts caused by certain HPV strains.

HPV vaccination rates remain low in the United States and, by 2013, only 57 percent of females between the ages of 13 and 17 received at least one dose. Only 38 percent received all three recommended doses, according to the study.

The findings reveal the HPV vaccine doesn't result in riskier sexual behavior.

Researchers turned to an insurance database of 12- to 18-year-old girls enrolled in 50 medical plans across the country. About 21,000 vaccinated girls were matched with more than 186,000 non-vaccinated girls. Researchers compared their rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, HIV/AIDS and syphilis.

The vaccinated girls had higher STD rates even a year before getting vaccinated. So researchers looked at the rate of change between the two groups to see whether the vaccines were associated with any change in sexual behavior, said Anupam Jena, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

"If anything, we would have expected to find the rates would go up faster in the vaccinated population, if you think the girls who are getting vaccinated have a baseline higher propensity to have sex. But we didn't find that at all. Nothing to me suggests that sexual activity is increasing," Jena said.

The detailed findings were published in the journal, JAMA Internal Medicine.

TagsHPV, HPV vaccination, vaccination, human papillomavirus, AIDS, HIV, teen sexual behavior, sexual behavior, STD